An engineered burial of refuse. The refuse is dumped into trenches and compacted by bulldozer, where, it is hoped,
aerobic metabolism by microorganisms decomposes the organic matter to
stable compounds
(
H2O,
CO2, etc.). Moisture is essential for the biological degradation and groundwater assists the process except when it fills air voids and prevents the transport of oxygen to the refuse. Land fills of unsatisfactory design can be major sources of air, water and soil pollution.
Source:
PAC, 1990, 62, 2167
(Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990))
on page 2212
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
